Darwin Nunez’s head dropped as he turned and noticed the No 9 being held up by the fourth official on the electronic board.
The Liverpool striker trudged over to the touchline, embraced his replacement Cody Gakpo, and shook the hand of head coach Arne Slot, who gave him a consoling pat on the back.
Nunez’s barren run continued on a bitterly cold night at Catalonia’s Estadi Montilivi. The Uruguayan now boasts just one goal in his last 10 appearances for the club in all competitions.
It was another goalless game for Nunez on Tuesday (Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Positive results have largely served to mask his lack of output this season and Mohamed Salah’s clinically dispatched second-half penalty — his 16th goal of the season — ensured that Liverpool maintained their perfect record in Europe with a largely unconvincing 1-0 victory over Girona.
However, in the context of Liverpool’s ability to maintain a challenge for the biggest prizes, Nunez’s form is a growing concern.
Liverpool created four big chances, as defined by Opta, against the Champions League newcomers, and the 25-year-old squandered two of them. Just like at Newcastle last week, he displayed an alarming lack of composure in the final third.
During his 71 minutes on the field, he had just 16 touches, completed only four of his eight passes (50 per cent) and won one out of four duels (25 per cent).
Asked if it was a confidence issue with Nunez, Slot said: “What I can agree on is that he missed a few chances. Then it’s always the question: Does this have anything to do with low confidence or is this a situation where he’s in at the moment?
“I think every striker all around the world has periods where every ball goes in, and sometimes he has a period when you try so hard but you’re not able to score. The good thing is that we have many players who can score for us and Mo did again.
“I would have loved to see Darwin score because every striker wants and needs to score goals. That is why I kept him on for quite a long time. He was a threat but unfortunately he couldn’t score.”
The absence of Diogo Jota for the past two months due to injury handed Nunez a golden opportunity to shine after only making one Premier League start under Slot prior to late October.
Initially, the signs were promising with a lively cameo against Chelsea after Jota had been forced off. Nunez then got the winner away to RB Leipzig in the Champions League and created the late equaliser for Salah against Arsenal at the Emirates.
But since then it’s been slim pickings. It was telling that against both German champions Bayer Leverkusen and English champions Manchester City, Slot opted to play Luis Diaz through the centre with Nunez relegated to bench duty. He believed the versatile Colombian was better able to carry out his tactical plan and it worked a treat.
Nunez’s work ethic has ensured that the crowd at Anfield have remained fully behind him. His name is chanted repeatedly — there’s a desperation to see him succeed. They love how he wears his heart on his sleeve.
However, patience among even his most avid backers is currently being pushed to the limit. Having gained a reputation during his Liverpool career for thrilling and infuriating in equal measure, currently he’s only specialising in the latter. The brutal reality is that Christmas is approaching and the most expensive signing in the club’s history has just three goals to his name in 18 appearances (11 starts).
(Eric Alonso/Getty Images)
In 2022-23 following his arrival from Benfica for a fee potentially rising to £85 million, his 15 goals came at a rate of one every 158 minutes of action. His 18 goals in all competitions last season came at a similar rate (one every 168 minutes), but his impressive tally of 13 assists pointed to a player much more in tune with the team-mates around him.
So far this season he has netted a goal every 346 minutes of action and only has two assists to his name. That’s regression and it was telling after the win in Spain that a critical Slot also bemoaned the lack of intensity in his side’s pressing with Girona able to build attacks far too easily. There was no focal point up top setting the tone.
Of course others have stepped up to help Liverpool rattle off a remarkable sequence of 19 wins from 22 games. Salah leads the way with 16 goals followed by Diaz (nine), Gakpo (eight) and Jota (four).
In Europe especially Liverpool have been remarkably strong defensively, although a fifth successive clean sheet in the Champions League (they have now gone 579 minutes without conceding a goal) owed much to Alisson’s commanding display on his return from a hamstring injury.
With Jota on the brink of his own comeback having resumed team training earlier this week, there’s a temptation to brush Nunez’s struggles aside. Jota certainly won’t have lost any sleep over whether he will quickly regain a starting berth.
Liverpool will be a stronger unit with the Portugal international back leading the line, but with his injury record there are obvious question marks over how substantial a role he will play between now and May. The lesser-spotted Federico Chiesa and youngster Jayden Danns will provide other options.
As for Nunez, it feels like there’s a huge decision looming on the horizon for Liverpool next summer. They need someone with that kind of price tag to be much more than a decent impact sub. We’re approaching the midway point of his third season at the club and he turns 26 next June.
At what point do you just accept this is him and give up on trying to iron out all those rough edges? Slot will want to put his own stamp on the squad he inherited and it wouldn’t be a surprise if a new No 9 featured on his wish-list in the upcoming windows.
Victory in Spain put Liverpool on the brink of booking their passage to the last 16 of the Champions League with two games to spare, but the debate over Nunez’s future shows no sign of abating.
(Header photo: Eric Alonso/Getty Images)
